


Stale Incense

by bindside



Series: One week [2]
Category: Legend of Zelda, breath of the wild
Genre: Multi, and i finally just finished it so, idk y'all have fun with this!, it's been sitting here, like 300 words from finished, tell me what you think in the comments, unnecessarily late part 2 to one week!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-01-31 18:25:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12687765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bindside/pseuds/bindside
Summary: "Rise and shine, Link!"





	1. Terra-fying

**Author's Note:**

> HELLOOOOOOO and welcome to the months late part TWO to the already ridiculously long story. I've been sitting there staring at it so close to finished and I finally finished the first chapter so. It's here now. 
> 
> Have fun y'all!

_ Evander pressed his muzzle to Link’s shoulder, trying to comfort him as he wept. It was almost as if he were trying to tell Link something, but he couldn't understand. _

_ Titan had curled up on the ground, allowing Link to use him as a sort of pillow, leaning against him. Atlas would’ve been crushing Link’s legs under his weight, had this not been a dream. _

_ “I’m so sorry, Evander. And Titan. I shouldn't have let harm come to either of you…” Link whispered, running his hand along Evander’s muzzle. Somehow, he felt more real than Titan. The bear shimmered when Link looked at him, clearly distant from this world, while Atlas was completely solid. Evander appeared to oddly shimmer, but not in the way that Titan did. He seemed far more solid. _

_ Perhaps, it had to do with the mission Link was currently on.  _

_ He’d heard a rumor that there was a place where he could bring a horse back to life.  _

“Rise and shine, Link!” Zelda shouted, jolting him out of his haze, leaning against a pile of wood that he’d apparently imagined as Titan. Atlas was exactly where he’d been in Link’s dream, sleeping next to him, when he opened his eyes.

Sidon was submerged in the river, trying to catch some breakfast. They’d travelled quite a ways from the Zoras domain, Link noted. He’d been careful to make sure Sidon didn’t get dehydrated from being on dry land so often, as supported by the clinking of water bottles in Link’s bag as he pulled it closer to him. 

He stood up, Atlas yawning before following him over to the cooking pot outside the stable. Link kicked some stray branches under it, picking up a piece of flint the stable had left by it for this situation. He scratched a few sparks onto it to let the embers start sizzling, then looked up to wave Sidon over.

His lover had left his princely gear back at the zora’s domain, favoring instead a few pieces of armor not unlike Link’s. He, like everyone in their little group, had been adorned with a blue garment- for Zelda, her dress, for Link, his tunic, and Sidon had gained a sash not unlike his sister’s.

Link would be responsible for informing the leaders of each race that Ganon had been defeated and Zelda would be crowned Queen. He really wasn’t certain how he’d inform the gerudo without revealing he was a boy.

That was really strange to think about for Link. He’d remembered her entirely as a lighthearted girl who longed for adventure, and yet… now, she seemed so distant. She treated him as if he were a delicate vase, something to only be admired from a distance. He supposed that there were likely many differences between him now and him one-hundred years prior. He had long ditched the dress that had been in awful condition, instead wearing some of the sheikah armor from the shop in Hateno, which meant that she wasn’t actually wearing her blue garment. 

Neither was Link, though, he had also picked up some sheikah armor, which he couldn’t afford before.

Sidon arrived at the cooking pot, unhooking some fish from his belt. Link stood up and stretched, standing on his tippy toes to be as tall as possible as he went towards Sidon.

“Hey, Link,” Sidon yawned, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of Link’s head, earning a small giggle from the tiny hylian. He stepped away from Sidon to allow him to begin cooking their breakfast, hearing Atlas bark in alarm suddenly.

He glanced up at the path leading to the stable they were at, seeing a woman chasing a blindingly white dog out from the stable, the dog running quickly towards Sidon.

The white pooch leapt up and snatched the sizzlefin trout directly out from Sidon’s hands, running around back towards her owner before being seized by the crude rope collar. Sidon snickered for a moment as the woman looked up at Sidon, terrified of what the dog had gotten her into.

“I’m so sorry, I really am, she has such bad manners-” Sidon waved her off, shaking his head. 

“It’s quite alright, miss. Certainly gave me a chuckle.”

“Ah… okay.” She said, trying to pry the fish from the dog’s jaws, obviously shaken by the much taller Zora. “My name’s Prima, by the way. I’m supposed to rehome her.”

“I can’t imagine how she’d become a nuisance at home,” Zelda laughed, joining the conversation. She had a few mushrooms in her hands, as she’d been hunting for some to add to their breakfast. 

“The problem is, she’s so bright in her coloring that nobody wants her. She stands out too much, so no one can use her as a hunter.” Prima sighed, crossing her arms and looking down at the little dog. 

“What’s her name?” Zelda asked curiously, dropping off the mushrooms by the cooking pot before crouching down before the long-haired white dog and scratching behind her ears.

“Doesn’t have one. I found her as a stray, so I took her in, but apparently she’s been driving business away from the inn back home.”

“I’ll take her.” Zelda offered, smiling down at the little dog. “I think my friend’s dog could use a friend too.”

“Oh, really?! Thank god. What’s your name? I’ll give you a discount if you ever come to the inn in Hateno.”

“Zelda.” 

“Oh, like the princess? What a pretty name."

“Er,” Link cut in, looking over at Zelda. He hadn’t thought of this- how the hell were they going to go ‘Hey, don’t worry, we’ve got a queen now and all the bad stuff is gone and the princess hasn’t aged a day.’

“Yes, I suppose you could say that,” Zelda graciously ended the conversation, untying the crude collar from the new dog’s neck and leading her back over to the cooking pot.

Atlas sniffed at the white dog’s rear end, as per dog customs, as the trio watched them curiously. 

“What are you going to name her?” Sidon asked, reaching out to stroke her fur gently, as if afraid of hurting her. Link let his one eye start to close, yawning as the new dog slowly made her way towards him. 

“I think I’ll name her Terra. That girl seemed rather… terra-fied of her,” Zelda smirked, causing both Link and Sidon to groan at the same time.

“Was that necessary?” Link complained, reaching out to pet Terra. Sidon tossed the fish she hadn’t stolen into the pan, creating a nice sizzling noise.

“Terra the Terror. I like it,” Sidon said, grinning. “I guess this means I’m missing out on the pet party.”

“Maybe Evander will like you when we get him back,” Link offered, knowing that Sidon hadn’t met his horse. “He’s stubborn, but really sweet.”

“He’s yours, though. Plus, horses tend to have an awfully hard time getting to the Zora’s domain, since they hate swimming and also can’t get up many of the obstacles.”

“I bet I could do it.” Link scoffed, thinking- he could use cryonis blocks to slowly move along the river, surely?

“Well, let’s wait until we have your horse back, at least.”

“We should start walking again, come to think of it.” Link said, looking at the fish in the pan. It was certainly cooked enough at this point, since it was rather small.

“You two split this, I can eat raw.” Sidon said, standing up as Zelda removed the fish from the pan and skewered two halves with sticks. Link opened his mouth wide and shoved the entire thing in his mouth, chewing vigorously and giving Zelda an odd look when she started laughing at him.

“You always were quite the glutton, huh? I guess some things don’t change.”

Sidon chuckled a bit as well, holding out a hand to help Link up first. He stood on his tip-toes, trying to be taller than Zelda when she stood up but unfortunately falling short. He settled back to the balls of his feet, stretching momentarily.

“You’re gonna have to work with Terra a lot if you want her to be as polite as Atlas.” Atlas, upon hearing his name, jumped and knocked Link over as he attempted to lick every inch of Link’s face.

“Ah, yes, truly a goal to aspire to.” Zelda snickered as Link pushed himself up, patting Atlas’ head. Link stuck his tongue out at her, shaking his head to get the hair out of his face as they started trekking along to the Faron grasslands. Link was going to have  _ so  _ many bug bites by the time they ended up at the great fairy fountain.

Link wished he had Evander with him right now. Admittedly, neither Sidon or Zelda had any horses, so he’d be forced to simply trot along next to them. However, it seemed significantly better than trudging along with sore feet and a dry throat.

They had just left the Dueling Peaks Stable, and they were currently walking across one of the twin bridges to get to the path along the river that dumped into Lake Hylia. Link had the Master Sword carefully fastened to his back, since the path was so dangerous, and Sidon had lent Zelda a Zora Sword. 

“Let’s hope that there’s not too many enemies along the way. I know travellers are clearing them out fairly often, since the blood moons are rising a lot less.”

“Have they completely stopped?” Sidon asked, glancing aside at Zelda.

“We aren’t sure yet.” Zelda shrugged, messing with her shirt momentarily as she looked down at it. “They say that ten thousand years ago, one of my ancestors dressed as a boy named Sheik to aid Link in his quest.”

“Really?” Sidon asked, surprised. “So, wait… how does all of this business work? How is every hero coincidentally named Link?”

“Well, my family line has the power to seal the darkness, so the power and the name Zelda are passed down.” She explained, looking over at Link. “I’ve done lots of research, and I can’t quite figure out how Link works. I think you’re meant to be the same soul reincarnated, but, I’m not quite certain. And Link usually isn’t your real name, simply an alias you go by so you can have a peaceful life afterwards.”

“Hm.” Link said, thinking. “I’m a hylian every time, aren’t I? That’s sort of weird.”

“Actually, you were a korok once! Although at the time they were called kokiri, and were very similar to Hylians.”

“Weird.” Link shrugged, stretching his arms up above his head. “I’m allergic to them now.”

“Really?” Zelda asked, turning towards him with excitement. “I haven’t heard of that happening before, but I do suppose that you definitely were stuffy whenever we went to Korok forest. Do you have any Korok seeds?”

“No, I traded them off because I kept sneezing.” Link explained, making Zelda laugh. Terra zoomed ahead of them, Atlas chasing fast behind her. “Good, they’ll wear each other out.”

“If they get too tired before we’re done walking, then what do we do?” Zelda asked, looking at her new-found dog taunting Atlas.

“Carry them.”

“They’re heavy, Link. Sidon’s already carrying most of our stuff.”

“Hm.” Link sighed, continuing along the dirt path alongside his friends.

They walked until their legs were near to giving up, but they had managed to reach a good place to set up camp. The sun had long set past the distant mountains, the stars beginning to playfully poke out from above the clouds. Wordlessly, they all got to work.

Sidon unloaded the pack from his back, passing around some rations of dried food and making his way towards a small pond. He preferred to sleep in ponds, since it helped him rehydrate himself. Sidon’s breathing soon deepened, signifying he was asleep. Link and Zelda sat ten meters away, warming themselves by the camp fire.

“How old do you remember him being when the calamity happened?”

“He’s my age.” Link said, hovering his hands over the fire. “He’s blocked out most of the calamity from his memory.” 

They continued speaking in hushed voices. “If I might ask… do you truly remember Mipha?”

“Yes, Zelda, I know. I know. But I think of Mipha, and I think of friendship, like you. I might have loved her a century ago… but I think that… well, I don’t know.”

“That’s okay. You don’t have to know.” Terra came towards Zelda and sniffed her hand, causing her to smile. “You should get some sleep.”

“I’m not tired.” Link yawned, slouching a bit. 

“Yeah, yeah, you big baby. Get some sleep.” Link tried to mutter a complaint before he leaned sideways on the log and almost instantly crashed. 


	2. A Porpoise For Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay shit, fish puns, and plot twists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HHHHHOOOO well I haven't been a good boy and updated this fic nearly as much as I should have. Well, months late, we have the next chapter, and I hope it's worth it! Comments really help motivate me to write chapters so I'd love if you dropped me one :D

Link wasn’t sure at what point in the night he’d gotten up and laid down next to the river with Sidon. The log stopped being tolerable after a bit, and he had to stumble his way over to his brightly-colored boyfriend. 

Sidon was already well awake by the time Link opened his eyes, yawning loudly. 

“Goodness, you’re adorable.” Sidon giggled, upon looking over at him. 

“You’re more adorable.” Link argued back, stretching his arms above his head.

“Nope, according to my calculations, you’re the most adorable.” 

“Ah, well, what your princely education didn’t tell you is that  _ you  _ are actually the most adorable.”

“Link, I have had an amazing education that has not been lacking in any aspect. I wish to inform you that it is actually  _ you  _ who is most adorable!”

“Can you two shut up already?” Zelda asked, rolling out of her cot with her hair sticking up in at least four hundred different directions. Link snickered, running his hand over Sidon’s tail before standing up, Sidon struggling off of his back to get up in turn.

“Alright, we’re going to make it today. We’re already halfway to the next stable, so it’s only a short distance to the horse god lake. And since lots of horses are attracted there anyway, we’ll be able to find one for me as well. For future travels, we can start planning routes next to rivers so Sidon can travel with us at the same speed.

“Excuse you, I swim much faster than a horse can run.” Sidon stated proudly, crossing his arms. 

“Sounds…  _ fishy.  _ Perhaps we should test the theory before stating it so confidently.” Zelda grinned, running her fingers through her hair to straighten it out.

“Yeah, why not? Just for the _ halibut _ , you know.” Link winked at Zelda, containing a small giggle.

“Yeah. There’s a  _ porpoise  _ for everything, you know. No matter how  _ eel _ -relevant it may seem.” A grin split across Sidon’s face, hardly able to control his laughter. 

“I’ve been  _ herring  _ rumors that-” A sharp, searing pain split through Link’s forehead, making him crumple over with his face in his hands. Sounds dulled out around him but then slowly came back into his focus. 

He re-opened his eyes only a few seconds later to see Atlas sniffing at his face, Terra not far behind him. Sidon was kneeling down to give Link a cup of water. He gratefully took it, drinking it up quickly and rubbing his eyelid. 

“What happened, Link?” Zelda asked, rubbing his back gently. 

“I dunno. It just felt like-”

_ Snap. _

_ Crackle. _

“Get  _ DOWN!”  _ Link suddenly shouted, dropping the cup and scrambling to grab his bow, drawing an arrow back and aiming it towards the source of the sizzling sound- a shock arrow, ready to fly right at Sidon.

Link took his shield and buried the end of it into the dirt so it would stand up as temporary cover for his friends. A quick look around told him that he and his friends had been surrounded at all sides by the Yiga clan, who had popped up from the bushes and rocks. 

Link drew his bow back and fired toward the glow of the shock arrow, his heart pounding. He heard both Zelda and Sidon clambering for their weapons to aid him.

“Sidon, stay down there! They have shock arrows!” Link glanced back to the direction of where he’d shot and froze.

This was not only the Yiga clan. 

They had restrained a  _ Lynel  _ and had set it loose on them. Zelda, armed with her own weapons, went to attack some of the clan members behind Link so he could focus on the front. While looking at the Lynel, he thought back to his memory of fighting silver bokoblins over a hundred years ago.

This would be no ordinary Lynel.

Link felt the spirits of the champions rising in him once again, so he decided to call upon Revali’s power to get a vantage point. He flew up, shooting down three Yiga clan members before pulling out his paraglider to glide back down, shooting an ice arrow at the Lynel. His eyes widened in dismay when it had no real effect on the Lynel, his face twisting up in rage. 

Atlas ran around behind it, barking to grab its attention while Link ran and slid under it, stabbing upwards with the Master sword twice before fastening it back to his back. The Lynel roared in rage, rearing up on its back feet to bring down its huge weapon on Link’s head. He cast forth Daruk’s shield in perfect time to avoid a battering. While the lynel had been knocked back from his counterattack, he grabbed onto its mane and swung onto its back, slicing into its back as much as he could before being knocked off. Link raised his hand and snapped, summoning down a bolt of lightning on the lynel’s head before rolling out of the way. 

While the lightning certainly hurt the lynel, it didn’t leave him shaking like Link would have hoped. Atlas seemed to be trying as hard as possible to distract the lynel from Link to give him opportunities to attack, but the Lynel seemed to be slowly catching on to it. Link let Atlas distract the Lynel, who pretended to look at Atlas and then quickly swung back around just as Link was about to hit him- just as he had planned. Link shielded at the perfect time, shattering the lynel’s weapon. The beast howled in rage, Link rolling out of the way and implanting an arrow through its eye and straight into its brain. The monster slumped to the ground, dead.

Link wiped the sweat from his brow, thinking that the fighting was done, when he heard the most horrible, gut-wrenchingly awful sound erupt from where he’d left Sidon. 

Without thinking, he nocked an arrow and fired it straight at the Yiga clan member that had shot Sidon with the shock arrow. He ran as fast as he could to Sidon, coming across him writhing in pain from the wound, which had a nasty burn surrounding the point of entry. Fortunately, the arrow had gone all the way through, rather than getting stuck inside of his torso. Zelda was panicking, trying to figure out what to do, but an unnatural calm washed over Link.

He put his hand over the wound, blue glowing forth from his fingertips and giving him an odd tingling sensation through his whole body. Sidon had to be okay. Sidon could not die.

Zelda gasped, but didn’t say anything. Sidon’s groans of pain ebbed off, the blue light from Link’s fingers dimming down to disappear.

Sidon’s torso had a long burn scar running up the formerly pearly white scales, but he would live. Any other Zora would have died.

Link sighed in relief, bowing his head with exhaustion. 

“We need to get to the next stable for safety.” Zelda stated, standing up. “And you need a bath.” She said, looking over Link. He nodded in agreement, joining her standing. 

“It shouldn’t be too long of a walk to the stable. They have a lake nearby, so that shouldn’t be a problem.” Link helped Sidon up and supported him as he started walking, getting to a tree stump so that Sidon could sit upright. “Since you can’t carry our stuff, I’m going to see if I can build a sled thing for the dogs to pull along with us.”

Sidon nodded, tilting his head down so he could doze off. 

Link took his sword and picked his way across to a small cluster of trees. He felled a larger one, beginning to cut it up into planks. He had never done this before, and yet it felt so familiar…

_ “Now find a good, sturdy one, son.” His father said, holding his hand as they picked the way through the forest. Link pointed to one excitedly, his father helping him chop it down. They hauled it back towards their house, spending hours cutting and sanding the wood to fit the exact measurements they needed. _

_ “Boys, come inside before you freeze! It’s way too cold out there!” Link’s mother yelled from the doorway, a headscarf wrapped around her and Hilaria wrapped up tightly in a blanket. _

_ “Maman! Hilly’s gonna freeze out here, not me!” Link yelled back.  _

_ “Maman, I wanna play with daddy and Link!” Hilaria yelled, making his mother sigh before putting her down.  _

_ “Come back in immediately if you feel cold!” She muttered something about her children being insane before walking back into the house. Link hugged his sister before returning to his work, hammering planks together. _

_ “What are we doing?” She asked, leaning over her brother’s shoulder. _

_ “We’re building a sled!” _

Link snapped back to attention, realizing he’d already finished his work. It was by far inferior to the sled he had built in his memories, but it would work for their purposes. He tied the ropes up and then whistled for Atlas, connecting the rope to his harness.

“Zel, where’s Terra?”

“Over here! I’ll bring her over.” 

Link tied Terra to the sled as well, then packed all of their materials onto it.

“We need to move quickly. Sidon needs some still water.” Link said, whistling to get Atlas to follow him. Terra had taken to following Atlas around, so she was helping pull the sled too. Once he’d verified this, he went to help Sidon up and started on the journey to the stable.


	3. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's the conclusion to it all, folks. Posted back in June of 2017, i've been staying with this fanfic for nine months, and honestly, it does feel like a baby to me. A newborn baby, that will continue to grow. I'm going to go back in and edit chapters I haven't touched in months and fix them up, I'm going to give you actual writing for certain scenes I was too depressed to write. I'd like to thank everyone who left Kudos, encouraging comments, the whole lot. You are the reason this happened. You are all the parents of this newborn child as much as I am. I can't wait to keep writing for you all.
> 
> Thank you.

Link laid down Sidon gently in the water, not wanting to disturb him too much.

“Link-” Sidon started, being shushed immediately by Zelda.

“Don’t strain yourself.”

“No, no- Link, Link, thank y-”

“Shush! I know!” Link snapped in anger, not truly at Sidon, but frustration at the situation. It took him a moment to process what he’d even said as he cleaned out Sidon’s wound.

“Oh, shoot, I’m sorry- I was just- I was frustrated- I didn’t mean to- Please don’t cry.”

“It’s fine, Link.” Sidon said, smiling up at him. Link sighed in relief, pressing a kiss to Sidon’s snout. “I’m just about as settled as I can be. We should let the wound breathe.”

“I’ll stay and guard you.”

“You’ll fall over in an hour. Don’t worry about me.”

Link chewed on his lip, nodding slowly and making his way to the stable slowly.

\------   
  


Link was trying to sleep in the uncomfortable and lumpy stable bed to no avail. Atlas was sitting on his chest, snoring on his face. Zelda had sprung for a soft bed and had bought Terra her  _ own  _ bed. Link liked to cuddle with Atlas rather than have him sleep elsewhere, but tonight it was a bit annoying to have the dog snores. He was already worried about Sidon, who was sleeping in the lake outside, which made it hard to sleep.

He hadn’t realized Mipha’s powers could work through him on others. He didn’t want to think about what could have happened if it didn’t work. 

Atlas sneezed directly on Link’s face, making him cringe away. Link rolled him off his chest to his side to avoid any future situations like that. Atlas grumbled in complaint but rolled to his spot and fell back asleep without further issue. Link squeezed his eyes shut, settling down into the lumpy mattress. 

After an extended period of trying to fall asleep, he gave up on it and rolled out of bed. Atlas’ head perked up and he trotted after Link as he walked outside. Link let his bare feet hit the dirt outside, remembering his first days after waking up. He still had scars on his feet from some of the terrible blisters.

Link walked along the path, hearing the reassuring pit-pat of Atlas behind him. He saw Sidon asleep in the lake, smiling to himself. He looked back to the rest of the path, deciding to go along the rest of it. Perhaps if he tired out, he would be able to sleep.

Following the path, he found it diverged into a valley. He continued along, looking around at the strange flowers he’d never seen before. 

He almost tripped when he came across what seemed to be a fairy fountain. He’d been looking behind and tripped over the toadstool steps up to the fountain. 

“Boy…”

Link jumped back, standing higher.

“I can offer you great power… for a thousand rupees. Give them to me, quickly!”

Link sighed, shrugging to himself and pulling his rupee pouch out of his hidden pocket. He measured out three golden rupees and a silver rupee and tossed them into her hand, crossing his arms. 

The closed fairy fountain opened, revealing… not a fairy.

Link blinked in shock from the sudden sight of the not-fairy, Atlas barking behind him. 

“Oh, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you. Probably.”

Link looked at them, squinting. Was this Malanya? 

“Now, why have you sought me out? Surely, no ill fate has befallen one of your loyal steeds…”

Malanya seemed to be in shock for a moment. 

“This can’t be… what a brave and loyal steed you had, right up until the last moment of his life. A noble end for any creature. Yes, I will return him to you.”

Link’s eyes lit up in excitement, unable to even mutter out a simple thanks. Atlas barked as a shimmery figure started to materialize, Link running towards it as fast as he could.

Evander.

“I’m so sorry, boy- I should’ve protected you… I should’ve been more careful… oh Hylia, forgive me.” Evander whinnied, nosing at Link and pushing him back a little. Atlas yipped, excited, running around Evander in circles. Both of his dearest friends, back where they belonged. Right at his side.

Link climbed into the saddle once again, digging his heels in and grabbing hold of the reigns. He heard the pitter patter of Atlas’ feet behind him, laughing as he galloped along full speed back to where they had camped out. 

The sun rose over the distant hilltops, filling him with warmth. The golden rays of sunlight filtered down through the clouds and bounced off the glistening water, illuminating Sidon’s crimson scales. 

He felt a rise in his chest, one similar to what he had experienced before when he was fighting Ganon. He felt the joy of a hundred of his kind, a thousand, ten thousand, surging up through him. All of his kind, who had loved and lost. All of his kind.

 

Home.

**Author's Note:**

> Because I am a credible author and only want the best content for my viewers, I actually did get a horse to the Zora's domain using cryonis just to see if Link's bullshit would actually work. It did take me three hours IRL and considering that like 5 seconds is five minutes in-game time....uh. yeah. anyway, comments and kudos always appreciated, and thank you so much to people who send me nice comments on my tumblr!! (which is tinyhellboy if you feel like stalking me)
> 
> bye!


End file.
